March 11, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1429

OKARA, March 10: The shifting of the University of Education main campus from Okara to Lahore has drawn flak from the public throughout the district.

The university has a sort of unique record to its credit as six foundation stone laying ceremonies of the campus have been held since 2005 without being placed a single brick on its foundation at a proposed site on the GT Road between Okara and Renala Khurd town.

Governor Khalid Maqbool has the honour of laying the foundation stone twice, the recent being on March 7 wherein he announced that the Okara would have only the sub-campus. In a similar ceremony in December 2006, the governor had declared to shift the main campus from Lahore to Okara.

The idea of setting up the University of Education sub-campus in Okara was floated by Prof Ghulam Mustafa Habibullah, who later became its first vice-chancellor. Established on the Government Islamia High School premises, its senior headmaster Chaudhry Jamil Akhtar Javid initiated B.Ed classes on the sub-campus.

After getting political support from the then defence minister Rao Sikander Iqbal, Jamil Akhtar along with vice-chancellor Habibullah agreed to shift the main campus from Lahore to Okara.

Despite a stiff opposition by the Board of Revenue secretary, Punjab, then DCO Chaudhry Muhammad Aslam Kamboh succeeded in getting a 205 acres of land allotted to the university.

Former chief minister Pervaiz Elahi, on the pressing demand of Rao Sikander Iqbal, had allowed the transfer of the land to the university.

In January 2006, vice-chancellor Dr Habibullah laid the first foundation stone of the university at the site.

On the invitation of Rao Sikander Iqbal, then federal education minister and Higher Education Commission (HEC) chairman Dr Attaur Rehman again laid the foundation stone of the university on Aug 18, 2006.

In his speech, the HEC chairman had vehemently said that the name of the University of Education, Lahore, had been changed to University of Education, Okara, while the university in Lahore would work as sub-campus.

On the same day, Rao Sikander Iqbal had also laid the foundation stone of the university students center.

In 2007, Dr Munawar Mirza became the new vice-chancellor of the university. From the day she assumed the office rumours started taking a round that she was not interested in shifting the main campus from Lahore.

In January 2008, Dr Munawar visited the proposed site of the university in Okara and yet again laid the foundation stone of the campus.

Jamil Akhtar Javid filed a complaint No 85/01/08 in the office of the Punjab ombudsman against Governor/Chancellor Khalid Maqbool and vice-chancellor Prof Dr Munawar Mirza, which will be taken up on March 19.